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Fundraising can certainly be a challenge for community health improvement efforts, but in Tippecanoe County, IN, an interconnection of resources has proven to be just as effective as dollars. Healthy Active Tippecanoe , a community initiative...

Despite what you might expect with the climate, any annual list of “most bikeable” cities is going to have Minneapolis, MN, near the top. As the county seat of Hennepin County, which ranked 52 out of 84 counties in Minnesota in the 2012 County Health Rankings , Minneapolis is intentionally designed with bikeways and paths to encourage active transportation, including biking and walking.

Nestled along the eastern shore of Mount Hope Bay in Bristol County, Fall River, MA, was a mill town for about 150 years. As recently as half a century ago, families who called it home knew the mills would provide steady employment. That changed when the economy changed, and many of the biggest mills closed down. Today about a quarter of residents live in poverty and the unemployment rate is around 9 percent.

The 2011 County Health Rankings classified Desoto County as the healthiest county in Mississippi for health outcomes and the fifth-healthiest county for health factors, with lower unemployment rates, higher education rates and greater access to healthy food compared to the rest of the state.

West Virginia has one of the highest obesity rates in the country and McDowell County is no exception, where more than a third of adults are obese. Here in this Appalachian coal-mining enclave in the southernmost tip of the state, a local community health center called the Tug River Health Association took an unusual step to combat this problem by offering its patients gym memberships.

When the Jackson Area Chamber of Commerce first decided to get involved with improving health and wellness in Madison County, Tennessee, officials weren’t sure where to begin or how to determine which issues to tackle. But when chamber president Kyle Spurgeon saw the 2010 County Health Rankings , he saw that the area’s health conditions could be directly tied in to its economic prowess.

When the 2010 County Health Rankings were released, Muskegon County’s Healthy on the Shore coalition was already in the planning stages. But the information in the Rankings — where the Michigan county ranked 64th in health outcomes and 70th in health behaviors, out of 82 counties — helped reinforce the need for the task force, focusing on improving unhealthy behaviors in the area.

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